God is good. He does not work in mysterious ways. And this is the diary of one families journey to him. My goal for all my children is to find their place in Heaven, we are a quarter of the way there as Braden was born into Heaven 1/3/07. We have 3 boys living and loving life one day at a time! Lane Michael and Ethan are 11 year old twins and Ryan joined our family 8/18/09. What a joy they are! Everyone right now is at my favorite age they've ever been! I can't wait to see what's next!

Thursday, May 29, 2014

2 weeks from today I will leave work early and go stand in the hallways of the elementery school and watch as my boys walk those halls for the last time. Next year they'll be going to the Middle School (how is that even possible). I won't have anyone in the elementery until Ryan goes in the fall of 2015.

Not that anyone has asked for my thoughts on elementery school but I'm going to offer them up anyway.

1. parents are being held responsible in the 4th grade (still) for their childrens homework. wrong answer. my 4th grader is responsible for his OWN homework. It is not my job to make sure it gets done, I will give them time to do it, and ask them if it's done. I should not supervise them getting it done, and should be able to ask them if it's done and if they need help. Make the child answer for his or her actions.

2. It is not the teachers responsibility to make sure the child does his or her schoolwork. The teacher should be able to give them time to do it (ample time), the tools needed to succeed and then assist if necessary. The child should be responsible for his or her OWN schoolwork. Supervision should be provided due to the distraction of other students. The child should be able to request assistance with the project. Make the child answer for his or her own actions.

3. Science fair is a lot of fun, the kids take a lot of time to study their subject, write their report, and learn about their chosen project. I would appreciate it if the school would allow other students to walk through the science fair and see what everyone has worked so hard on. Also require the 4th graders to stand with their project and explain it as the kids come through. We all know that if they can explain it, then they truly understand it.

4. Bullying is a real problem that does exist, however being called a name is NOT being bullied. The definition of bully is:
: a blustering browbeating person; especially: one habitually cruel to others who are weaker
: to frighten, hurt, or threaten (a smaller or weaker person) : to act like a bully toward (someone)
: to cause (someone) to do something by making threats or insults or by using force
I think it's time for not only kids to stop bullying but also for our kids to stand up to bullies and let them work it out among themselves!

I see a lack of independence in our kids in all the wrong areas! Kids have free range of the internet at all hours (!!!) but can't be trusted to do chores and homework independently. What? I think we have it backwards! I think chores and homework (etc) should be independent work and the internet should be a supervised activity.